Spyro: A Hero's Tail

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Is the franchise back on track? Find out in our review.

By Juan Castro

After the lackluster release of Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly, fans of the series had reason to fear the coming of the latest installment, Spyro: A Hero's Tail. Thankfully, it seems as though Vivendi learned a lesson from the slight debacle that was Enter the Dragonfly. And while A Heroes Tail fails to break new ground in terms of style and game mechanics, the game packs enough entertainment to warrant a look from platform fans, regardless of age.

The story in A Hero's Tail is simple and frankly, quite forgettable. Once again, the Dragon Realms find themselves in peril. Only this time, a maniacal dragon named Red plans to corrupt the green fields of the Dragon Realm by planting infectious "Dark Gems" throughout the land.

These gems corrupt everything they touch, transforming the pastel colored vistas of the Dragon Realm into a dark and menacing land fraught with lethal plants and ill-tempered creatures. The only way Spyro can alleviate the Dragon Realms is by seeking out all the Dark Gems infesting the land and destroying them. In order to do so, Spyro needs to use a roster of old-school platformer techniques.

You'll spend most of your time in the game jumping (and double jumping) from platform to platform, dashing toward enemies and sailing through the air on your stubby purple wings. This time around, however, controlling Spyro feels a little more responsive than in times past. You'll hardly ever miss a jump do to shoddy control and chances are enemies will never get the best of you because you couldn't dodge a hit.

This time around, Spyro gets to jet around the game world using some all-new abilities to the Spyro universe. For starters, you can now perform a wall kick, letting you bounce from wall to wall to "climb" specific sections of the terrain. Now, this maneuver is as old as you can get in terms of 3D platformers, but it still adds a little depth in this case. The Tail Swing, another new move in A Hero's Tail, acts very much like a lasso, helping you swing across deadly chasms.

Again, this move isn't exactly new in any form, but in the Spyro universe it only adds to the experience. The last new ability, in terms of personal transportation, is the ledge grab. Now, the ability to hang on ledges, narrowly escaping a grisly death in the process, has been around since the original Prince of Persia. It's nice that Eurocom decided to add it, and it definitely comes in handy, but hanging off ledges is hardly revolutionary.

Having said that, the game implements each of Spyro's new moves rather well and each is pretty fun to use. Hanging off ledges, swinging past lava pits and wall jumping feels less of a derivative game mechanic in this case. The game makes good use of the traditional platform staples; you've done it all before but it's still entertaining.

Throughout the adventure, Spyro can purchase new abilities by visiting a money grubbing business bear known as Mr. Moneybags. Fans of the earlier games will recognize some of Mr. Moneybugs many wares up for sales. Most of the Breath Attacks available for purchase, including Fire, Ice and Electricity, make an appearance from earlier Spyro adventures. In addition to those three, you can now bust out with the all-new Water Breath Attack, which lets you take down fiery enemies with ease.